This document provides an overview of search engine optimization (SEO). It defines SEO as the process of optimizing on-page and off-page ranking factors to achieve high search engine rankings. It discusses how search engines work by crawling the web to index content and then ranking results. Popular search engines and SEO statistics are presented. The importance of SEO for marketing is explained. Key on-page and off-page ranking factors are identified. Steps for developing an SEO strategy and basic optimization techniques are outlined.

1. Poornima Venkatachalapathi

2. Agenda
• What is a Search Engine?
• Examples of popular Search Engines
• Search Engines statistics
• Why is Search Engine marketing important?
• What is a SEO Algorithm?
• Steps to developing a good SEO strategy
• Ranking factors
• Basic tips for optimization

3. Examples popular Search Engines

5. How Do Search Engines Work?
 Spider “crawls” the web to find new documents (web pages, other documents)
typically by following hyperlinks from websites already in their database
 Search engines indexes the content (text, code) in these documents by adding it to
their databases and then periodically updates this content
 Search engines search their own databases when a user enters in a search to find
related documents (not searching web pages in real-time)
 Search engines rank the resulting documents using an algorithm (mathematical
formula) by assigning various weights and ranking factors

6. How Do Search Engines Work?
 Spider “crawls” the web to find new documents (web pages, other documents)
typically by following hyperlinks from websites already in their database
 Search engines indexes the content (text, code) in these documents by adding it to
their databases and then periodically updates this content
 Search engines search their own databases when a user enters in a search to find
related documents (not searching web pages in real-time)
 Search engines rank the resulting documents using an algorithm (mathematical
formula) by assigning various weights and ranking factors

7. 100+ Billion Searches / Month

8. Important?
 80% of consumers find your website by first writing a query into a box on a
search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing)
 90% choose a site listed on the first page
 85% of all traffic on the internet is referred to by search engines
 The top three organic positions receive 59% percent of user clicks.
 Cost-effective advertising
 Clear and measurable ROI
 Operates under this assumption:
More (relevant) traffic + Good Conversions Rate = More Sales/Leads

9. Business Card

10. SEO Effectiveness

11. What is SEO?
 SEO = Search Engine Optimization
 Refers to the process of “optimizing” both the on-
page and off-page ranking factors in order to achieve
high search engine rankings for targeted search
terms.
 Refers to the “industry” that has been created
regarding using keyword searching a a means of
increasing relevant traffic to a website

14. What is a SEO Algorithm?
 Top Secret! Only select employees of a search engines company know for
certain
 Reverse engineering, research and experiments gives SEOs (search engine
optimization professionals) a “pretty good” idea of the major factors and
approximate weight assignments
 The SEO algorithm is constantly changed, tweaked & updated
 Websites and documents being searched are also constantly changing
 Varies by Search Engine – some give more weight to on-page factors, some
to link popularity

15. Online Spending Growth

16. A good SEO strategy:
 Research desirable keywords and search phrases
(WordTracker, Overture, Google AdWords)
 Identify search phrases to target (should be relevant to business/market, obtainable
and profitable)
 “Clean” and optimize a website’s HTML code for appropriate keyword density, title
tag optimization, internal linking structure, headings and subheadings, etc.
 Help in writing copy to appeal to both search engines and actual website visitors
 Study competitors (competing websites) and search engines
 Implement a quality link building campaign
 Add Quality content
 Constant monitoring of rankings for targeted search terms

17. Ranking factors
 On-Page Factors (Code & Content)
#3 - Title tags <title>
#5 - Header tags <h1>
#4 - ALT image tags
#1 - Content, Content, Content (Body text) <body>
#6 - Hyperlink text
#2 - Keyword frequency & density
 Off-Page Factors
#1 Anchor text
#2 - Link Popularity (“votes” for your site) – adds
credibility

18. Google Insights for Search

19. What a Search Engine Sees
 View > Source (HTML code)

20. Pay Per Click
 PPC ads appear as “sponsored listings”
 Companies bid on price they are willing to pay “per
click”
 Typically have very good tracking tools and statistics
 Ability to control ad text
 Can set budgets and spending limits
 Google AdWords and Overture are the two leaders

21. PPC vs. “Organic” SEO
Pay-Per-Click “Organic” SEO
• results in 1-2 days • results take 2 weeks to 4 months
• easier for a novice or one little knowledge of • requires ongoing learning and experience to
SEO achieve results
• ability to turn on and off at any moment • very difficult to control flow of traffic
• generally more costly per visitor and per • generally more cost-effective, does not
conversion penalize for more traffic
• fewer impressions and exposure • SERPs are more popular than sponsored ads
• easier to compete in highly competitive • very difficult to compete in highly competitive
market space (but it will cost you) market space
• Ability to generate exposure on related sites • ability to generate exposure on related
(AdSense) websites and directories
• ability to target “local” markets • more difficult to target local markets
• better for short-term and high-margin • better for long-term and lower margin
campaigns campaigns

22. Tips & Optimization Techniques
 Research keywords related to your business
 Identify competitors, utilize benchmarking techniques and identify level of
competition
 Utilize descriptive title tags for each page
 Ensure that your text is HTML-text and not image text
 Use text links when ever possible
 Use appropriate keywords in your content and internal hyperlinks (don’t overdo!)
 Obtain inbound links from related websites
 Monitor your search engine rankings and more importantly your website traffic
statistics and sales/leads produced
 Educate yourself about search engine marketing

23. QUESTIONS
?